For nearly as long as what people have been gambling and betting on sports, proposition bets, or prop bets for short, have been captivating their imaginations.
A prop bet requires of the bettor to answer a specific question relating to a future event. An example of a prop bet would be to predict the number of rebounds collected by an NBA player like LeBron James, or to predict just how far star quarterback Tom Brady will be throwing the ball during a particular game.
But prop bets also have a storied and colourful history, and on many occasions, a strange one.
Below are some of the strangest prop bets ever wagered.
Trump And Jong-Un
During Donald Trump’s term in the White Office, he attended a couple of summits hosted by North Korea’s infamous leader, Kim Jong-Un.
Leading up to the second of these visits, bookmakers decided to have a bit of fun with Trump’s well-known love of fast food. This led to a prop bet asking punters to predict whether or not Trump would be gifting his contemporary a fatty feast from home.
Trump ultimately decided to leave the fast food back home.
Propping The Pope
While it’s safe to assume that the Pop is probably not that big a fan of betting on sports, he has been the subject of many an entertaining proposition bet.
Popular “Pope” prop bets have included predicting who the next Pope will be, when the current Pope will leave or pass away, and even how old the Pope currently occupying the role will become.
Betting On Love
When Amazon boss Jeff Bezos announced that he would be splitting from his then-wife MacKenzie, bookies all over the world jumped at the opportunity.
Popular prop bets included who Bezos would be dating next, whether or not he would find love in the arms of one of his many employees, and even the size of the fortune his ex-wife would be walking away with.
Area 51
In September 2019, Area 51 was once again thrown into the spotlight when over 2 million people RSVP’d to a group called “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All Of Us”.
Since conspiracy theories have long suggested the site to be populated by research programs focusing on aliens, several prop bets naturally followed.
Folks could bet on everything from whether or not the raid would be successful, to the likelihood of someone making contact with “the third kind”.
Super Bowl Props
Naturally, because of its sheer size, the Super Bowl has become a popular feature for placing prop bets.
A popular Super Bowl bet has been that of predicting the colour of the Gatorade bath given to the winning coach. Options have included blue, orange, and even none.
Another favourite for bettors has been that of predicting which celebrity would be shown first on television, and even whether or not any of the players would propose marriage after the game.
Other Super Bowl prop bets have included predicting the number of times the words “home field advantage” would be mentioned in the broadcast, the outcome of the coin flip, and even the title of the first song that would be performed during the famous half-time show.